International Humanitarian Aid Surgery CME Course

This workshop will help prepare the International Humanitarian Aid Volunteer Surgeon to function in a low resource setting. In developing countries, the surgical volunteer must truly be a “generalist”, able to handle an array of surgical conditions. The 1½ day course will provide an overview of the scope of conditions that one might encounter in resource limited environments. Through a variety of techniques, including skill stations and simulation,participants will familiarize themselves with several relevant procedures, as well as the essential elements of surgical safety, ethics and cultural considerations in such settings. Specific skill areas that will be taught are orthopedic dislocations and fracture management with traction pins and external fixation, cesarean sections, post-partum hemorrhage, burn management and hand cutting of skingrafts, tendon repairs, tropical medicine for surgical diseases, emergency craniotomy, and low resource anesthetic techniques